Luncheon Meat...considering the variations...

[Tee-Cee]

At this time of year,with temperatures dropping,I tend to give this bait a good workover at my local pit as it definitely does the trick for Autumn carp and roach.
Generally speaking I use Plumrose as it has a good stong smell but Princes is also very good and also produces fish.

However,as temperatures have dropped this last 2/3 weeks(from 59degrees three weeks ago to 51degrees yesterday)I noticed the bait(seemed)to be getting harder after immersion in water for a period of time and not all runs turned into fish.This hardening of the bait may well be my imagination because it comes out of the water so very cold.....

Last week when I needed a tin or two for a quick trip I asked my wife to get some from Asda but all she could get was Ye Old Oak brand which I hadn't used before and although I didn't really fancy it(looked very soft and spongy!)I had little choice!

Well,its been a revelation and little short of amazing as far as fish caught is concerned.

Yes,this brand is very soft and probably wouldn't take much heavy casting but its consistency is very fine and the softness seems to be ideal for taking fish.Catches have improved and the takes are very,very positive.
I have also noticed that it seems to sink at a different rate to the two brands mentioned above,both of which are far more solid(more dense)so would sink quicker.In fact,I have noticed that very small pieces(and I mean small!)actually float on the surface but this may be caused in the surface film...
As far as colour is concerned the Oak brand is lighter than the other two.

As a matter of interest I fish the meat on a shortish hair in cubes(or balls shaped with a knife)of about 12mm although I took my last fish yesterday-a 10lb plus mirror-on a cube 25mm square.The take was without notice and the fish had gone 20' or more before I could move.........(this may be due to slow,age related,reactions!)

I would be interested to hear of experiences with other brands but for the time being Ye Old Oak gets my vote.............................'til next week anyway!!

 

[guest61]

Its made to a 'price point' - the cheaper the brand that you buy the less meat in the product, the more fat and 'filler' - the more likely it is to float.

But who knows? The technologists that play around with the recipes / formulations may be accidentally creating a new 'superbait'.

I don't use it a lot, when I do I tend to use Sainsbury's own brand. I get a few of trips out of one can and its usually been frozen, defrosted a few times, so the texture and original colour are not as the manufacturer intended.


Mark

 

[Harvey]

..........

 

[guest61]

That would make it almost weightless in the water, or even pop up from the bottom when legered. Sounds perfect to me.

I suppose that if you got some made from large amount of 'lung' it might 'pop-up' straight from the can...!?


Indeed the new 'superbait'...

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

The cheap stuff goes harder in the water due to the amount of fat in it.

I cut mine in slice's about half an inch thick, then take a bread punch and stick it in the slice, this i hair rig. I also cut some much thicker for Barbel, and use the bread punch the same way.

The thicker the slice the longer the barrel shape you can get.

For me it's like most things in life, you get what you pay for, and good luncheon meat isn't cheap. Bacon grill in tins is also another good bait, and is used in the same way.

 

[Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)]

I have used Ye Old Oak quite a bit in the past, it is very fatty snd can be a pain to use in warm weather. I tend to use it straight on the hook, punched out and looking like a pellet.

 

[peter crabtree]

If you buy the cheaper brands they are very fatty, I open mine at home and hold it under the hot tap and a lot of the white fat disappears. Also to keep the pink colour I keep it in water in the bait box.
As the colder weather approaches it would not be my choice of bait, however I have found using small slivers cut into the shape of a maggot on a small hook very effective.

 

[waggy]

Spam, spam, spam, spam. Rarely blank with it. I use 1" sq X 2" pieces on a size 8, home tied to 10" braid, hair-rig. Had big eels and small pike too. I sometimes put a lug on the hook too and get the odd chub and large rudd.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Waggy.......as a matter of interest who's Spam do you use?

I think I used it some years ago but found it didn't cast too well,not to any distance anyway!
I recall it being very,very soft..........but perhaps I need to give it another try!

I use a similar rig and bait size(sometimes)as you..

thanks to others who posted suggestions..

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Tee Cee,

I don't know what you use as a stop on the hair rig, but a bit of grass or the V shaped rig stops are good for helping you cast that bit further with soft baits. You could also try 3 rig stops left stuck together.

 

[waggy]

Waggy.......as a matter of interest who's Spam do you use?

I think I used it some years ago but found it didn't cast too well,not to any distance anyway!
I recall it being very,very soft..........but perhaps I need to give it another try!

I use a similar rig and bait size(sometimes)as you..

thanks to others who posted suggestions..

Sorry Tee-Cee, I'll elaborate. I keep it in the fridge in Summer and transport it in a small cool-bag with an ice block. Keeps the maggots, worms and other bait in tip-top nick too. Works especially well if you've had the opened tin in and out a few times. If it gets oxidised on the surface, use your Swiss army penknife to shave 1mm off it all round.

 

[guest61]

Tee Cee,

I don't know what you use as a stop on the hair rig, but a bit of grass or the V shaped rig stops are good for helping you cast that bit further with soft baits. You could also try 3 rig stops left stuck together.

An additional 'tip' that has served me well for casting luncheon meat a bit further is to use a 'hair' made of braid - this seems to be a little more 'forgiving' when casting.

Mark

 

[klik2change]

Some years back, somebody on here described the following: cut a piece of rig tube the same length as the thickness of meat. Carefully push it through the meat. thread your hair rig through that and put an ordinary stop on it. That will stand a fair bit of casting. Alternatively, try the cheap stuff from Morrison's [Tulip], or a piece of Peparami - that's a fantastic meat bait - very smelly and extremely tough.

 

[captainbarnacles]

You could use the copper wire method. Take a piece of copper wire from and electrical cable wind this round a pencil or similar to make what looks like a spring , you can make these as big or as small as you want according to size of bait being used . bend over one end of the wire and twist into a loop and secure this to the hair rig. Then all you have to do is wind the copper spring into the meat , it will stay on forever. Hope this helps and modify it as you wish. tight lines

 

[peter crabtree]

i fished almost solely for barbel for around 4 seasons earlier this decade, and all the biggest came on hair rigged pepperami. luncheon meat and spam are good but when I used to cast it out I was always thinking it may have come off.
That unsure feeling made me change to pepperami as it is tough as old boots and stays on........

 

[MarkTheSpark]

Lidl double giant german sausage in the orange skin. Bargain of the century and fish love it.

 

[Alan Tyler]

"Bargain of the century and fish love it."
Oh, yeah? and how do they propose to get it out of my sandwich?

That's the joy of maggots - no temptation to eat the bait and go home early.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I thought this thread had died....

I went yesterday and couldn't get a touch on Tulip but as soon as I changed to Old Oak-bang-four carp in an hour......I took both brands to experiment a little...back to Tulip and nothing!
(Doesn't prove much but I'll do the same with other brands..)

Yes,I use longer bait stops and it does help but chubberbob's idea looks to have some merit(as does kliktochange's idea) so I might give it a go!

Talking of sandwiches.......I chat to a an old boy(80 years +)who only uses bread normally so I offer him odd baits to try and he's most appreciative.Yesterday I offered him some mini frankfurter sausages(2" x 1" and an underated bait)........he took one look at them and said"far to good for fish" and did no more than scoff all three in seconds!!

He thanked me and suggested I spend far too much on bait!!!

Pepperami...tried this last year but although its a great bait to use i didn't have much with it.........must try it again though this winter...

Thanks to all for th great suggestions..........I posted this originally as much for beginners as for myself and the info supplied must help them!!

Good stuff!!!


Waggy...if I recast the same bait I normally shave a sliver from each side of th meat-just looks better to me but don'r suppose it means much to th fish!!!

 

[quickcedo]

Another tip for hooking "meat", Cut the meat into thin slices 2mm ish. Then tear it to approx twice the gape of the hook (ragged pieces work best) then put the point of the hook through the centre and thread up the line, repeat as many times as reqd. usually 3 or 4 pieces, then pull them all back onto the hook.
The benefits of this are, If small fish rob the bait they only usually get one bit off. There is more surface area for scent leak off. It's a very unusual shape.
With reguard brand. When the local cut had a thriving population of chub the only brand which worked was "pek". I honestly never had one fish on any other and I did try them all. Strange really when you concider this brand has been rubbish everywhere else I've tried it.

 

[flightliner]

I don't know what you use as a stop on the hair rig, but a bit of grass or the V shaped rig stops are good for helping you cast that bit further with soft baits. You could also try 3 rig stops left stuck together

Yes- I was telling a friend of mine recantly that I was now using the latest bio-degradable hairstops ( grass) instead of the old fashioned plastic stuff (all very tonque in cheek mind) and he took it in hook, line and sinker!
Regarding Ye Old Oak products thier cheap frankfurter sausages are very good for Barbel as well.
Oh before I forget-- as well as the hair stop I leave a long tag of line after tying my loop (about 10 mm ) and this gives additional holding power.